Toronto Welcomes Prestige Meeting of North American Convention Professionals

“Live audition” for Toronto as a convention host

Toronto, ON – Toronto will host the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Annual Meeting beginning Sunday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre – the first time the conference will be held outside of the United States. The event is one of the prestige meetings in the convention industry and typically leads to significant future meeting business in the host city.  

With more than 5,000 members worldwide, PCMA represents meeting management executives from all facets of the meetings industry. The association’s members oversee more than 300,000 meetings a year. With an average of approximately 4,500 delegates, these meetings are important drivers of tourism, generating an average of $4 million in direct spending in the host city.

“PCMA members attending the meeting represent an annual buying power of more than $18 billion,” said Bill Allen, President and CEO of Tourism Toronto.  “This is Toronto’s live audition for future business. We’re rolling out the red carpet.”

The PCMA Annual Meeting by the numbers:
• 3,000 delegates – 1,500 meeting professionals and 1,500 industry representatives
• $4.7 million in economic benefits to the Toronto Region 

“We are very happy to be hosting this critically important group at the MTCC,” said Barry Smith, CEO of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.  “PCMA members are the key influencers when it comes to any organization making a decision about where to hold their next event.” 

“We see PCMA’s members as our primary strategic partners in ensuring Toronto continues to be a destination of choice for groups from around the world.  That’s why we’re all putting our best foot forward in every respect for this essential association,” he added.

The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) is the professional resource center and premier educator for the meetings and convention industry. Founded in 1957, PCMA represents the interests of meeting management executives from associations, non-profit organizations, corporations, independent meeting planning companies, and multi-management firms who recognize the importance of meetings to their organization. Headquartered in Chicago, PCMA has 16 chapters throughout the United States and Canada. For additional information, please visit the PCMA Web site at www.pcma.org.

About the MTCC
The Metro Toronto Convention Centre is Canada’s #1 trade and convention facility and one of the finest in North America.  With more than 2 million square feet of state-of-the-art space, it is considered a world-class, tier-one facility. Since its opening in 1984, the MTCC has hosted approximately 10,000 events, entertained nearly 40 million guests and has had a multi-billion dollar direct and indirect economic impact on the City and Province.

About Tourism Toronto
Tourism Toronto, Toronto’s Convention and Visitors Association, is an industry association of more than 1,000 members established to strategically sell and market the Greater Toronto Region as a remarkable destination for tourists, convention delegates and business travelers around the globe.   For more information on Tourism Toronto, please visit, www.torontotourism.com.

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For Further Information Please Contact:

Heather Evans                                         Michele Simpson
Marketing Manager                                  Manager, Media Relations
MTCC                                                     Tourism Toronto
(416) 585-8126                                       (416) 987-1738